Sunstorm's first X-ray solar spectrum

Around the same size as a box for a smartphone, ESA’s Sun-watching Sunstorm CubeSat has produced its first solar X-ray spectrum , coming just over a week after its launch to orbit aboard a Vega rocket. Sunstorm hosts an innovative solar X-ray spectrometer called the X-ray Flux Monitor for CubeSats (XFM-CS).Its function is to detect the X-ray pulses produced by solar flares – explosive releases of magnetic energy seen as enormous flashes on the Sun’s surface. These give rise in turn to space weather, threatening satellites and terrestrial power and communications networks, even aircraft on polar flights.